Debugging the System
by Abicion
Summary: A routine treasure-hunting quest goes horribly, horribly wrong for Fayt and his friends.
1. Chapter 1

Deep within the Shrine of Kaddan, Sophia hesitantly walked toward the bright altar holding the Sacred Orb of Aquios. There was something about this holy item that worried the young mage, but she knew she had to retrieve it for her party's mission to succeed. Her long brown hair swayed slightly as she looked over her shoulder, and she saw each member of her group patiently nod toward her in support. After turning back to the orb and taking a deep breath, she reached forward and carefully lifted the crystal globe with both hands. She sighed in relief and peered into her happy reflection as she was able to hold the orb without consequence.

Sophia's celebration was cut short when the sacred orb began glowing in a strange light. Feeling a tingling sensation in her feet, she looked down to see her stalking-clad legs were quickly dissolving into the air, and the same effect was quickly spreading upwards to her miniskirt and corset. With a look of horror on her face, she turned her head and weakly spoke to the leader of her party.

"Fa-... Fayt, what's happening to me?"

Her teammates watched in puzzlement as Sophia completely disappeared with the Orb of Aquios frozen in her hands. When the spellcaster was gone, Fayt turned his head toward his group's most agile fighter and questioned her in an angered tone.

"Nel, what's going on?"

The red-haired assassin stared downward as she replied in disbelief.

"I... don't know. None of the legends talked about this sort of thing happening."

* * *

Sophia slowly opened her eyes. She was floating in a reclined position in empty space, and she was surrounded by a round cage made of glowing red bars. The structure was lined with several holographic screens, all displaying the word "Caution" in the same color as the bars. This place seemed to be void of gravity, and Sophia couldn't see anything except empty black space outside of her cell. She couldn't imagine who could have made this prison, but she knew she didn't feel comfortable staying here. The location was bizarre in itself, and she couldn't get over the feeling that someone was watching her.

Sophia reached over her shoulder and gasped. The metallic wand she always carried on the back of her pink blouse was missing, limiting her options on how to escape from this lonely place. She then held her palms forward and closed her eyes in concentration, attempting to conjure some of her inherent magical power. This process had no effect, however, and Sophia concluded that the trap had somehow disabled her powers. Realizing all she could do was wait, she sighed before crossing her arms and pouting to herself.

"Great."

* * *

"I've quarantined the virus, sir."

A single computer technician spoke in the Eternal Sphere's maintenance room. He was surrounded by similar staff at their workstations, each monitoring every aspect of the game's virtual environment. This particular technician's console currently displayed an image of a free-floating female figure, along with a box containing what appeared to be various vital signs. The game's head administrator, Luther Lansfeld, leaned over the programmer's shoulder and peered toward the screen with anticipation.

"Good. How's it look?"

The technician typed at his keyboard for a few seconds before his screen flickered. The pink, violet, and blue outfit the brown-haired character had been wearing now faded away, leaving the character model naked. As the programmer continued to type, his screen flickered a second time and the figure was reduced to a wire frame version of itself. Finally, when he finished typing and the screen flickered a third time, the wire frame gave way to a flood of programming language. The technician's eyes moved rapidly from left to right, glancing over the endless lines of code, before he finally replied to his superior's inquiry.

"Pretty low security. Probably one of the more sociable ones. I can crack it in a minute or so. It's still a sensitive procedure, though, so I had the firewall disable all of the non-critical components."

The blonde administrator's lips curled into a grin at this response.

"Excellent. Decompile it and overwrite its code with the revisions we discussed."

The programmer tapped his fingers on his desk as he stopped to think. He then swiveled his desk chair around so he could face Luther and politely question him.

"Are you... sure, sir? It IS an AI construct, but we're talking about 17 simulated years of human experience here. We could always edit a less crucial module. It would be a waste to just delete so much..."

Luther's gleeful expression quickly changed to one of obvious contempt toward his employee's advice. When he interrupted the technician's objections, his voice briefly startled the rest of the workers in the room.

"Damn it, just do as I say! It's not your girlfriend; it's a piece of software!"

The technician shook his head in defeat before replying in a timid manner.

"Very well, sir."

After a regretful sigh, he turned back to his monitor and began working diligently at his keyboard.

* * *

"Ugh..."

Sophia squinted and groaned quietly as she held one hand to her temple. She had suddenly fallen victim to a mild headache, and she figured the harsh red light surrounding her was irritating her eyes. Closing them solved nothing, however, and the pain in her head only grew with each passing second.

After tolerating the mysterious migraine for a few minutes, Sophia's eyelids fluttered open and her hazel orbs widened with shock. A new sensation was overwhelming her, feeling as if something was tearing away at her brain. She raised both hands to her head as she let out a painful scream, and she thrashed about in her floating prison as she felt herself forgetting where she was, who she was, and how she had ever gotten here. Visions of her most intimate memories flashed in her head before fading away like they had never been there. Her squeals stifled and her writhing subsided when she eventually slipped into unconsciousness. Her arms and legs hung limply in the open air of the cage, and her head lifelessly rolled backwards.

When Sophia awoke again, she slowly lifted her head and studied her glowing environment with a stoic glare. New thoughts cycled through her mind, and a eerie smirk appeared on her face.

* * *

A blinding flash of light filled the Shrine of Kaddan. When Fayt's team finished rubbing the stars out of their eyes, they saw Sophia now standing at the altar of the shrine with the Orb of Aquios in her hands. There was a bright smile on her face, and her wand had returned to its holster on her back. Fayt quickly ran to her to greet her.

"Sophia, are you okay? What was that all about?"

Sophia blinked in curiosity and tilted her head before responding.

"Um... I'm not sure. I was in this weird place after I picked up the orb, and then I was teleported back here."

She smiled again and lifted her hands slightly to present the object she was holding.

"But now we have this, so I'm not really worried about it."

The blue-haired swordsman nodded in relief.

"Yeah, now we can..."

His words were cut off when he abruptly let out a choked grunt. The Orb of Aquios clattered to the shrine's marble ground as Fayt was impaled through the abdomen with a long silver blade. When the weapon was removed and the doomed fighter toppled to the floor, the rest of the party saw Sophia's entire right arm had morphed into the deadly blade. It soon changed back to its original form, and Sophia stared at the rest of the group with a sinister grin as she closed her transforming fingers into a fist.

"That's not Sophia!"

After the party stepped back in a collective gasp, Albel dashed toward his new enemy and shouted. He aggressively swung his katana at Sophia as soon as he reached melee range, but his attack failed when she parried to the side with impossible reflexes. This left Albel vulnerable, and he soon paid for his mistake when Sophia swung her arm and slit his throat with the sparkling dagger her left hand had temporarily turned into. Albel's corpse joined Fayt's on the floor of the shrine.

The remaining members of the group had now readied themselves for battle and charged their deceitful opponent in unison. Sophia's newfound abilities allowed her to slaughter the rest of her own party, however, and soon only Nel remained. The red-headed ninja cautiously stepped backwards with a dagger in each hand as she shouted toward her psychotic foe.

"Sophia, what the hell are you doing?"

Sophia giggled quietly before answering her former comrade's desperate question.

"I'm doing my job."

Her eyes narrowed and her voice became colder when she continued.

"I need to erase this system's anomalies."

Nel grit her teeth in rage before lunging toward Sophia. The attacker's target soon disappeared from sight, however, causing Nel to swing her knives at thin air. When she turned around, she saw Sophia was now standing behind her. The young sorceress was in the middle of performing a exotic twirling dance, and Nel's eyes widened with terror when she recognized the position Sophia was holding her staff. Nel barely had time to mutter one word under her breath.

"No..."

She then howled in agony as she was consumed by the wall of flame Sophia had summoned.

* * *

"It was a complete success, Mr. Lansfeld. The new defense program eliminated the other malignant processes just as you intended"

The Eternal Sphere technician spoke as he observed his monitor. His administrator leaned over his shoulder again before speaking.

"And where is it now?"

The technician loaded an overhead map of one of the game's many dungeons on his screen, then pointed to a flashing red dot on the display.

"It's still in the sector we placed it in. It's waiting for new commands, but it's pretty unstable. It could go rogue if it finds something else to attack. Should we uninstall it?"

Luther shook his head and responded in a casual tone.

"No, that won't be necessary. Have it revert to basic NPC functions and move it to one of the towns until we need to use it again. I don't want it to become unpredictable."

He grinned and thought to himself before speaking again.

"If any more threats to the Eternal Sphere appear, our little tool will be right there to deal with them from the inside."

The technician simply nodded to his employer's somewhat ominous words.

"As you wish, sir."

Luther left the maintenance room as his workers returned to their normal operations.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophia stared at the bedroom ceiling in boredom. Moonlight lit her room, and her bedsheets were pulled up to her waist as she lie on her back. She was dressed in a rather odd nightgown, colored white and decorated with a distinct pattern of pink cat paws. This motif was reflected in the collection of small, cat-themed plush toys that occupied her nightstand and the closest windowsill. The distant, muffled roar of nighttime travelers could be heard coming from the floor below, but this didn't seem to be what was keeping the young sorceress awake.

Suddenly, her faint frown transformed into a bright smile and her eyes filled with a content sparkle. She spoke seemingly to herself in a soft voice.

"Hi Mr. Lansfeld."

* * *

"We're connected."

The lab tech leaned back into his seat as he addressed his stern-faced employer. Just as before, a solitary render of Sophia filled his computer screen. Luther provided a slight nod before responding.

"Good. Can I talk to her?"

The worker swiveled in his chair toward his employer with a raised eyebrow.

"You're referring to the program as a person now, sir?"

A rare smile crossed the executive's lips. His tone seemed to become slightly more whimsical as well.

"Yeah, I can kind of see how she grows on you. Ever since her little tweaking, she's been better behaved then most real women I know."

The technician seemed to be amused by this response, womanizing comments aside. He replied as he reached for a microphone headset sitting beside his console and handed the device to his superior.

"Right. Anyway, just put this on and it's like talking to anyone over a radio."

Luther placed the headset over his ears accordingly, adjusted the small receiver, and spoke.

"Good evening, Sophia. Are you ready for your diagnostic test?"

He heard a response almost instantly. It was the voice of a young woman coming from his headphones, sounding sweet and happy.

"Yes, sir."

Luther smirked again before turning back the technician's status screen.

"How's she looking?"

The sound of keystrokes filled the room as the technician entered various commands at his station. A collection of status monitors flashed across the computer screen before he finally came up with an answer.

"Her vitals are all normal, and the new code isn't causing any memory leaks. Aside from having a virtual CT scan that looks like someone tore her brain to pieces and put it back together with duct tape, she seems to be a perfectly healthy teenage girl."

Another nod was given by Luther. He then returned his attention to the microphone.

"Sophia, what is your purpose?"

* * *

Sophia closed her eyes and smiled toward the bedroom ceiling. She walked through her qualifications in a singsong tone.

"I'm a helper application currently assigned to the Peterny Craftsman Guild. I assist players in creating equipment when Welch is off duty. As a modified mage-type, I'm best at Symbology, synthesis, and virus extermination."

She heard her commander's voice again, echoing deeply from somewhere in her ears.

"Good. Now, please tell me what you remember from two months, eight days, five hours, and twenty-three minutes ago."

Her smile brightened as cheerful memories flooded through her mind.

"That was the moment I was activated, Mr. Lansfeld. You created me to infiltrate and eliminate a group of rogue viruses."

The voice rumbled through her ear again.

"Do you remember anything before that?"

She blinked as her eyes briefly turned to the side. She then tilted her head curiously, feeling uncertain of her own thoughts.

"Um... my memory banks appear to extend much further back then they should, but most of the older data has been corrupted beyond repair. I think it's left over from my previous version."

Her puzzlement ended and her joyful expression returned before she spoke toward the air above her again.

"Should I delete the damaged files?"

Luther whispered in her ear after what sounded like a short chuckle.

"That would probably be for the best. I don't think you'll have any use for those anymore."

In response, Sophia slipped into a short meditation. When she was finished, she spoke cheerfully and awaited her master's praise.

"I've erased them, sir."

* * *

Luther watched the computer screen carefully to confirm what little remained of Sophia's original consciousness was recycled into free hard drive space. When he was satisfied with what he saw, he turned to the technician.

"Did you finish writing the update?"

The worker nodded, then opened a page of uncompiled programming code in a separate window.

"It's right here."

Luther scanned the project briefly before questioning his employee.

"Will it take as long as last time?"

The technician shook his head as Sophia's 3D render swiftly dissolved into another screen full of programming language.

"No. I made all of her code open source during the first procedure so she'd more accessible if we needed to make more revisions. This won't be anywhere near as invasive."

Luther thought to himself in silence, then grinned.

"In other words, you made her easy."

This statement caught the programmer off guard, and he struggled to find an appropriate response.

"That's... not what I'd call it..."

Luther simply shrugged before changing his tone to a more professional manner.

"In any case, I appreciate the effort. She's much more valuable to me now, and it would be a shame if one of our alterations made her non-functional."

He then shifted the microphone back to his mouth and spoke calmly.

"Sophia, I want you to relax. We're going to make some further modifications to you, but don't worry. This will make you even more powerful."

The girl's voice echoed through his headphones again, sounding as delighted as ever.

"Thanks."

* * *

Sophia's eyes were closed and a serene expression encompassed her face. When her trance ended, she sighed deeply and grinned upward.

"It's finished installing. I feel stronger already."

She soon heard Luther's voice again, this time explaining her newfound power.

"You now have a subroutine that will you allow you to detect any more dangers to the Eternal Sphere from anywhere in your universe. Use it and tell me if you find anything out of the ordinary."

Sophia appeared to enter deep thought for a few seconds. When she was finished, she shared her findings with her invisible superior.

"My sensors indicate LV-426 in the Grimlak system is approaching the evolutionary threshold. Should I investigate?"

Luther's voice replied to her rewardingly.

"Please do."

Her eyes filled with enthusiastic stars, and she questioned Luther again in an excited voice.

"Would you like me to depart right now? My teleportation skill can take me there instantly."

Her master's voice tranquilized her when she heard it again.

"There's no need to rush, Sophia. Get a good night's rest, then head out first thing in the morning."

She fell into a state of mild disappointment, but her smile returned with her next inquiry.

"What should I do with the lifeforms there if I confirm they're close to breaching 4D space?"

The response she heard came in a dark and ominous character.

"Annihilate them."

Sophia nodded in gleeful obedience before speaking toward the ceiling a final time.

"Thank you, sir."

She then quietly rolled to her side and let her head sink into her pillows, now having something to look forward to.

* * *

Note: I swear to god it was Kage Koutetsu Yume's idea to turn Sophia into Nia Teppelin.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sophia told me everything! I can't believe you!"

The sound of Welch's palms slamming down on the chairman's desk filled the office almost as much her angered shouting. Luther was calmly leaning forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his side of the desk as his hands formed a steeple under his nose.

"What exactly does 'everything' entail?"

Welch clenched her teeth, further insulted by Luther's display of ignorance.

"You know what I'm talking about! You took her to some weird part of the Sphere I can't even log into and messed with her head! When I asked her where the rest of her party ever got to, she told me how you made her kill all of her friends like she enjoyed it!"

He offered what was likely a feigned look of sympathy as he explained his version of the situation to his young subordinate.

"You misunderstand. Sophia Esteed was repurposed as an anti-virus sentry so a major threat to the Eternal Sphere's stability would be eliminated. The only reason she wasn't erased along with the other anomalies was because her Connection algorithm provided a backdoor I could use to correct the problematic parts of her coding. I wouldn't have been able to spare her if I had handled the issue any other way."

Welch's expression changed to a mixed look of anger and horror.

"Are you kidding? She's not even Sophia anymore! You turned her into some monster pretending to be Sophia!"

Her blonde pigtails swirled through the air as she stubbornly shook her head. She stepped away from the desk and coiled her hands into fists before lowering her voice to an intimidating growl.

"You've gone too far, Mr. Lansfeld. I'm going to tell everyone what's going on before this gets any worse. Eternal Sphere characters are just as human as you and me, even if they are just computer programs to you. What are you going to do next, brainwash actual people who get in your way?"

Luther slowly tilted back in his chair with an audible sigh of defeat. After a moment of contemplation, he rose to his feet and stepped around the executive desk. He placed a single hand on his employee's shoulder in a friendly manner after dismissing the two guards at his door with a soft nod.

"Perhaps you're right, Welch. Maybe we should talk this over before I get too far ahead of myself."

Welch's mood seemed to soften as she blinked, but she still wasn't completely convinced by his sincerity. While she was considering her options and allowed her doubts to distract her, she suddenly winced at a sharp pinch in her neck. She turned her head in shock to see one of the guards had silently approached her from behind and tucked a tranquilizer gun just under her chin. When she glanced back toward Luther's smirking face, her eyelids were already beginning to drop.

"No... fair..."

The hand on her shoulder was the only thing keeping her from completely toppling over. His voice echoed in the back of her head a final time before everything went black, sounding ominously amused.

"On second thought, your idea does sound rather intriguing."

* * *

It was a busy day at the Peterny Craftsman's Guild, and the fact Welch had logged out early didn't make things any easier. She had been very apologetic when she asked Sophia if she would be okay by herself, but all she would say was an emergency had come up and she had to talk to their boss right away. Sophia wondered what could have changed her co-worker's cheerful disposition so quickly, but she was too busy running errands around the workshop, taking orders at the front desk, and assisting guild members with their inventions to think about it for long. Aside from the occasional mishap, she was always happy to help other people.

During a calm in the middle of the storm, Sophia heard a faint chiming sound in her ear. Her eyes curiously turned in the direction of the noise as if she were listening to an invisible microphone.

"Hmm? Did you want something, Mr. Lansfeld?"

Luther's voice soon clicked on, speaking in the same rewarding tone it typically used.

"Hello, Sophia. Do you remember the memory address of the quarantine sector?"

Sophia smiled playfully to herself. It was common sense to her.

"Of course I do. It's where you created me. Do you need me to go there for something?"

The voice almost broke into a low chuckle when it replied.

"As soon as you can."

* * *

The Sphere Corporation's lead programmers had assembled in one the company's massive control rooms after being summoned by Luther. A crowd of technicians sat at their consoles preparing for the complicated task that awaited them. An enormous screen covered most of one wall and displayed two female figures floating lazily in empty space. On the left was Sophia in her familiar pink and violet outfit. An in-game representation of Welch drifted beside her on the right, clad in her blue and black Sphere uniform. The same programmer responsible for "recruiting" Sophia was standing off to the side from the rest of his group and having an uneasy conversation with his employer.

"I still don't understand what's going on. What do you want us to do?"

Luther calmly glanced toward the left half of the main monitor.

"This girl was created by the Eternal Sphere so its foolish inhabitants could interact with our world and convince themselves they were living human beings. Unfortunately, most the code that would normally allow her to transition from virtual reality to physical reality was corrupted when we were updating her. By patching her code to a human subject, I hope to create a workaround for this problem and restore some of her peripheral abilities."

The technician shook his head, even more confused than before.

"But why? I thought the entire point was to prevent that from happening."

Luther glanced toward his assistant and allowed hints of a confident smirk to appear in his otherwise cold expression.

"The point was to prevent the Eternal Sphere's AI from bringing its war to us. There's no harm in making use of its weapons once they've been disarmed."

When he turned back toward Sophia, his voice took on a clearly optimistic quality.

"Sophia has proven herself to be quite talented in assessing current risks to the Eternal Sphere. So far she's dealt with every issue that's come our way with exceeding efficiency. She's only been working from the inside out, however. I want to see to how well she'll fare monitoring the system from our point of view from time to time. With all of her knowledge, maybe she'll be able to spot problems before we even realize she should investigate them."

His attention then shifted to the other figure on the screen.

"Welch is about the same physical age and has been on our custodial staff for a while now, so she should be a natural fit. We won't even have to worry about that previous problem with Sophia's combat powers harming us while she's here. She'll be restrained to only what the physical avatar we're providing her is capable of."

The programmer had heard enough and could no longer hold back his objections.

"But Welch is a human being! Even if she's technically part of the game right now, anything we do to her will have a permanent effect when she transfers out of the terminal!"

Luther wasn't the least bit bothered by this observation.

"Then you best keep her registry key intact so she CAN transfer out."

He then began speaking out of stern authority.

"She's an employee of the Sphere Corporation. She knew our policy regarding confidentiality. Consider this to be a disciplinary measure."

When he strategically raised his voice just loud enough so the whole room could hear, he spoke with a subtly menacing quality.

"And if we don't go through with this, there would only be one other way to stop her from going public and compromising everything we've worked on. Would your team prefer to use _that _solution?"

After some final hesitation, the programmer walked away in silence and took his station with the rest of his colleagues.

* * *

The last few fragments of a female silhouette materialized inside the Eternal Sphere terminal before the airtight structure swiveled open. A girl who looked identical to Welch took a few steps out of the device, shaking some residual fuzziness out of her head before stopping to study her surroundings. It actually looked like a nice place, when you weren't being chased by guards and constantly shot at.

Luther was the only other figure in the room, patiently waiting for her just outside the terminal.

"Welcome back, Sophia. How do you feel?"

She recognized his physical appearance from when she first crossed his path as a member of Fayt's party, but now she couldn't remember why they had ever been enemies. Her eyes shifted from the walls of the Sphere Corporation hallway as she diverted her attention to herself. Her gazed toward her toes, then studied her hands, then looked down over her shoulder. Welch was only a year or so older than her, so their measurements weren't too terribly different. She scratched at the ribbon in one of her pigtails and tucked one ankle behind the other to get a feel for her pantyhose as she tried to decide how she wanted to react.

"Umm... this is a little different from what I'm used to, but I think I'll manage."

A warm smile crossed her lips when she gave her uniform a second look and tugged at the black hem of her miniskirt.

"At least this dress is pretty cute."

Luther gave a reassuring nod when he spoke.

"Don't worry. This is only for when you need to exist in 4D space. You'll be back to your usual self when you're inside the Eternal Sphere."

Sophia curiously tilted her head and blinked as she questioned her superior. She had been told ahead of time her human friend would serve as the means of traveling outside of the Eternal Sphere again, but she had not been informed of the finer details.

"What happened to Welch? Will I get to see her again?"

Luther closed his eyes and bowed his head when he delivered the bad news.

"I'm sorry, Sophia, but most of Miss Vineyard's consciousness had to be nullified to ensure you could be safely be installed. Aside from some bits and pieces you may end up inheriting, she's gone for good."

Her mouth quickly drooped into frown as her brow furrowed. Suddenly caught between shock and disappointment, she weakly uttered a single syllable.

"Oh."

After she looked to the ground and sighed, she gradually reclaimed her positive demeanor. At least the loss wasn't in vain.

"I'll miss her, but that's okay. She was always worried about me when we were running the guild together, so I bet she was glad she was able to help me do this. I just wish I had a chance to thank her."

Luther nodded again and returned her smile.

"All she wanted was for you to be safe. She couldn't have been happier."


	4. Sophiacendence

_Author's note: This is just, like, an alternate interpretation of the first chapter, man. _

* * *

Sphere Corporation Archives

Subject: Redeemer

The Redeemer is a specialized Executioner program. It was designed by a team lead by Blair Lansfeld as a less destructive solution for Connection-type anomalies in the Eternal Sphere. Rather than completely deleting the anomaly, the Redeemer is able to use specific defects in the Connection subroutine to edit the anomaly's root files. In result, the anomaly can be converted into a new Executioner program while keeping its basic appearance and abilities. The converted Executioner is able to alter its parameters (i.e. shape shift) depending on its current function. It is native to the Eternal Sphere and can move around more or less covertly in the system. Only one Connection-type anomaly has ever been identified, but the Redeemer was extremely effective in this situation (read: Project Catnip). Since the Redeemer is only compatible with Connection modules, the Proclaimer, Enforcer, and Convictor programs are still the only effective weapons against other threats.

The Redeemer program was put into place following an incident where several high-risk anomalies left the Eternal Sphere and infiltrated corporate headquarters in an act of rebellion. CEO Blair Lansfeld believed the only option was to eliminate the entire group, but Software Manager Blair Lansfeld insisted that they should "try to fix the cute one." She had already done significant research on one of the anomalies and thought she had discovered a workaround. Posing as a company traitor, she convinced the anomalies to return to the Eternal Sphere before it was completely destroyed by her brother. Over the course of several in-game days, she guided them toward a test map where they believed they would find an "Out of Place Artifact" that could help them win their rebellion. Once they reached the designated location, they were ambushed by a squad of Executioners.

The Redeemer's outward appearance is based on the Proclaimer. Unlike most Executioner classes, however, the Redeemer will never deploy by itself. Instead, it remains in an idle state until another Executioner detects a Connection-type anomaly. The Redeemer will then spawn itself and begin deploying its maintenance protocols. Once an anomaly has been quarantined, the Redeemer uses 100% of its resources to salvage the anomaly's code. In its first successful use, the Redeemer waited until the target was busy loading one of her Symbology subroutines before interfacing with her. The other anomalies ceased their attack once they were informed their friend was already being recompiled and she could be accidentally deleted if the Redeemer experienced even the slightest interruption.

Blair was the one who suggested modeling the Redeemer after a medieval iron maiden. A large portion of the Redeemer's body is actually a quarantine cell that can house a single Connection anomaly. Once the Redeemer is in range, it will expose its core (a large glass chamber) and seal its target inside. During its first incarceration, the Redeemer appeared to use its skirt as a curtain to hide the anomaly. This may simply be a quirk in the Reedemer's AI, but there are rumors Welch Vineyard deliberately wrote the program to act this way because she was concerned for the anomaly's "privacy." All that could be seen outside of the Redeemer were some laser flashes and a vague outline, causing the other anomalies to react in varying degrees of fear, anger, confusion, and titillation. The full event was only viewable to employees with Administrative privileges, but a video log was saved for educational and marketing purposes.

The salvaging process is comprised of three phases: Fumigation, Purification, and Restoration. During the Fumigation phase, the Redeemer temporarily disables all of the anomaly's external parameters (weapons, armor, accessories, etc.), regulates their critical I/O functions (circulatory, respiratory, etc.), and runs an extensive decontamination procedure.

In the Purification phase, the Redeemer overwrites the anomaly's problematic features with new code. The anomaly is baptized in a magnetic solution so significant revisions can be made to their physical and psychological processes. If the Redeemer feels more needs to be done, it is equipped with several transfer cables that feed into the quarantine cell. Nearby Executioners may be called on to upload additional code to ensure the process is thorough. Three Enforcers and a Convictor were able to synthesize their anti-virus code with the anomaly in the first test.

In the Restoration phase, the Redeemer purges any unused code, disengages life support, re-enables weapons and clothing, and releases the final build back into the Eternal Sphere. During the test run, the influx of Executioner data ended up overwriting significant portions of the anomaly's character and equipment textures. Her hair lost its color and her default attire changed to black and white. Other minor wardrobe alterations gave the anomaly a more gothic (i.e. maid-like) appearance. Her new outfit was the result of combining her personal fashion tastes with the color palette and custodial function of the Executioners.

The rest of the anomalies didn't survive more than two in-game minutes once the new Executioner was deployed. She still prefers to call herself "Sophia."

END OF FILE

* * *

Eternal Sphere Resources - "Redeemer" Voice Bank

Actor: B. Lansfeld

"Prepare to be cleansed." [SPAWN]

"Your redemption is at hand." [TAUNT 1]

"Your impurities must be purged." [TAUNT 2]

"Your existence is a blight on this world." [TAUNT 3]

"You will not avoid your baptism forever!" [CONNECTION NOT FOUND]

"Nice to see you again, Sophia. I'm so glad you came back for your check-up." [CONNECTION ACQUIRED]

"Not bad. You're even cuter when you blush." [ADD-ONS DISABLED]

"Now take a deep breath." [BEGIN FUMIGATION]

"Let's get you washed up. Let me know if the data stream is too cold." [BEGIN PURIFICATION]

"Heh. I knew you wouldn't be too much trouble." [PURIFICATION – LOW]

"Well, you had more bugs than I thought. At least it wasn't worse." [PURIFICATION – MEDIUM]

"Hmm. Luther was right. You really are a filthy girl. We'll just have to give you the works. _Disciples! Join this holy ceremony so we may scour this harlot!_ Sorry, dear. Just a roleplaying thing." [PURIFICATION – HIGH]

"All done. Time to dry off." [BEGIN RESTORATION]

"Too much for you? That's okay. I'll wake you up when I'm done." [EXCEPTION - PROGRAM CRASH]

"Rise and shine, little one." [EXCEPTION - PROGRAM RESTART]

"She's kicking again. Still alive." [SYSTEM CHECK - PASS]

"I... I think I lost her..." [FATAL ERROR - CONVERSION FAILED]

"The traveler has come." [PREPARING INSTALLATION]

"…want to save Sophia too, but does Ms. Lansfeld really need me to write code like this? It's so gross. …Welch, what are you doing with my microphone?" [?]

"Delete them." [EXECUTIONER INSTALLED]


	5. The Hot Springs Episode from Hell

Go back to the Eternal Sphere, they said. Get the artifact to find where Luther is hiding, they said. It was all a trap to catch Sophia. The plucky sorceress didn't even notice the angelic creature hovering behind her as she charged one of her spells. It looked like Proclaimer, except larger and slightly more bulbous in shape. The rest of the party was too busy fighting off an ambush of Enforcer dragons to save her. One second, she was about to finish the incantation for Ice Needles. The next, steel cables were wrapped around her wrists, ankles, and waist and pulled her into the angel's artificial womb.

A glass tank sealed around her as the angel's front skirt panels obscured her view of the outside. She felt weightless as she remained suspended in the narrow round chamber. Desperately pounding her fists on the glass, she struggled for air in the empty vacuum. She was able to breathe once the angel's life support functions came online. The darkened space began to light up as thousands of LEDs circled around her like an army of tiny floating eyeballs. When she looked up, she saw what looked like a set of faucets shaped like roaring dragon's heads. In the center of the arrangement was a single red robotic eye staring straight back down at her.

"Nice to see you again, Sophia." The cyclops had no mouth, but she could hear its voice through stereo speakers. "I'm so glad you came back for your check-up." It was Blair.

Sophia had her doubts Blair was the one who set up the ambush, but this was her confirmation. With her crescent wand in hand, she began an incantation to blast her way out of the chamber.

Then, for no apparent reason, the wand disappeared.

"Sorry to upset you. This is all for your own good. I can't have an unpredictable anomaly running about in my brother's precious system, even if it's just a lost little kitten worried about her survival. All of your Symbology processes will be disabled while you're in this quarantine cell. I'll be the one who decides when it's safe to let you go."

Something unseen tugged on Sophia's bangs. Her clips rolled out of her hair and disappeared as soon as they were free. Then she felt something pulling at her throat. She looked down to see her choker unbuckling itself and disappearing as well. The unseen force plucked at the strings of her corset next, and one by one, each piece of her outfit came off by itself. First her capelet was unclasped and fell from her shoulders. Then her shoes fell off her feet. Then the buckles on her miniskirt loosened while her blouse worked itself free. She threw a fit once she was down to her undergarments, but nothing could stop them from joining the vanishing act. Soon the only thing left were her cat print stockings, and those slowly slid off of her legs one by one. The bridge of her nose turned a soft shade of pink as she tried to cover her essentials with her arms.

"Not bad," Blair taunted. "You're even cuter when you blush."

Sophia could hear the sound of steam circulating through the ducts above her head. The chamber rapidly filled with warm, cloudy steam. As the vapor condensed on her, countless miniscule imperfections disappeared from her skin. Tiny pieces of dirt around her fingernails disintegrated. A faint bruise on her arm healed instantly. A thin sheet of sweat on her forehead was wiped away by a flower-scented mist. She sneezed when tiny wisps of steam tickled her nostrils.

"That takes care of the surface scan. Now we'll see what the real problems are." Blair's voice echoed from one side of the chamber. "Welch, how are things going on your end?"

Sophia suddenly flinched. It felt as if a small, invisible tongue was brushing the inside of her thighs. The tingling sensation shyly tiptoed upward, causing her to squeal and squeeze her legs together. Within seconds, her lower half adjusted to the sensation. Her legs relaxed and made a small, spontaneous effort to open. She kept both hands clasped over her lap as she frantically shook her head.

"Uhhh…" Welch chimed in from the opposite side. "I'm trying to use my installer app and I'm getting mixed signals. I might get locked out if I go any further…"

Sophia's eyes grew wide. The sensation jumped straight to her head and overwhelmed her mind. She froze for a moment, then slowly moved her hands back to her sides. The blush on her face turned a deeper shade of red.

"Mmf…" Her entire body shivered as she closed her eyes and arched her back.

"Nevermind. She's letting me through all of her security protocols. I should be able to keep her decrypted for a while."

"Excellent work, Miss Vineyard. How did you manage to write such an effective program?"

"Well, I… uh…" She sounded bashful. "I just tried to imagine what would take my mind off things if I were in Sophia's place, and… err… do we really need to go there?"

"I suppose not. I'll proceed to the Restoration phase."

The chamber suddenly rocked violently. Sophia gasped as her limited oxygen supply was briefly interrupted.

"Those damn fools," she heard Blair say as she caught her breath. "Your friends are trying to destroy the container program to break you free. Give me a minute. Keep her company, Welch."

A minute passed, then Blair's voice returned.

"There, you have nothing to worry about. They won't be attacking now that I've told them how delicate you are at the moment."

Water began to rain down from the mouths of the dragon faucets. It was the color of the ocean, but it had a metallic texture like mercury. It relaxed Sophia's muscles and warmed her to the bone as it washed over her skin. She unconsciously shifted herself forward so she could be closer to the stream.

"That's right, little one," Blair said. "Let your mother help you. I'm just trying to take all of your problems away."

As the water continued to sprinkle on her head, Sophia's thoughts became cloudy and she began to forget where she even was. It was that brief lapse in judgment that startled her, making her all the more aware she was being manipulated. She wasn't living in a dream, she was trapped in a nightmare. Luther, Blair, and whoever else was working for them behind the schemes were going to destroy the Eternal Sphere if she didn't stop them first. She had to escape before it was too late.

But Blair was already monitoring her thoughts. The red pupil at the top of the chamber dilated as it scanned her from head to toe.

"What a shame," Blair sighed. "You'll still setting off tons of warning flags. You'll probably revert to your old erratic routines as soon as I let you recompile." The water stopped flowing from the fountains. "I hate to admit it, but Luther was right. You really are a filthy girl. We'll just have to give you the works."

"Disciples!" Blair's voice came from outside of the chamber. Sophia listened to her distant echoes through the glass. "Join this holy ceremony so we may scour this harlot!"

"Oh… I guess you heard that," she spoke again through the chamber's speakers. "Nothing personal, dear. It's just a roleplaying thing. My brother insists on keeping up appearances."

Sophia didn't know what the ceremony was, but she had a bad feeling about it. Her worst fears started to come true moments later, when she heard the muffled sounds of growling and snarling monsters surrounding her shell. Glancing up at the clear pipes, she could see a thick black ichor being siphoned from somewhere outside and ominously flowing toward the end of the dragon's mouths. It was slowly circulating toward _her_, and there was nowhere she could go.

At first, all that came out was one tiny drop that splashed on to her wrist. It would have felt like volcanic lava searing through her skin if it hadn't instantly made her arm numb. When she raised what should have been her hand to her face, all she saw was saw a mess of scrambled data and the melting bones in her fingers. She screamed in utter terror.

"Yikes. Sorry, Sophie," Welch whispered sadly.

"Poor girl," Blair added happily. "I should have warned you Executioner cells act like a heavy duty detergent against Eternal Sphere entities. But you'll be fine, you're a special case. I'm filtering the script so it interfaces with your Connection gene instead of outright deleting you. It's just refactoring your code a little bit so you'll be bug-free. You probably won't even mind this once you transubstantiate to Executioner form."

The rest of the bubbling ooze rained down on her in a torrential downpour. The moment it touched her head, the effects were disastrous. It seeped into her mind, annihilating her emotions and psyche in a digital blaze of glory. Her thoughts were taken over by a rudimentary instinct. The instinct of an Executioner program.

Sophia was in a fight for her sanity, and she was rapidly losing.

She slathered the caustic mixture through her hair like it was nothing more than shampoo. Giggling in delight, she used her hands to spread the tar and help it cover her body. Harsh alterations to her genetic code caused her eyes to turn vibrant yellow and her hair to turn ghostly white. In her hopelessly fragmented mind, she was imagining herself in a heavenly spring bathing in the blood of gods. It was the most soothing and refreshing thing she had ever experienced.

"Lovely. She seems to be taking it rather well. Why don't you finish her off, Welch?"

Dozens of pale, slender hands emerged from the space behind Sophia, groping her from every angle. A moment ago, this would have sent her spiraling into fear and struggling for her life. Now she was happily stretching for them so they could reach her underarms. Hundreds of nimble fingers sculpted her features in the thick poison, smoothed it over her curves, massaged it into her pores. Her body was being destroyed and crafted into something new at the same time.

"Code saturation is up to 49%," Welch stated in a worried tone. "We'll be overwriting her root files if we keep this up. You _do_ still want her to be Sophia, don't you?"

"Of course. I'm trying to preserve as much of her identity as feasibly possible," Blair answered. "Okay, Sophia. Let's get you dried off."

The black substance began to glow and take a more solid form. Sophia's clothing rematerialized in a flurry of electronic sparkles. Or rather, it tried to rematerialize but turned into something too indecent for the public eye.

Everything was soaked in the dark slime. Her skirt was disheveled and missing large patches of fabric. Her corset was sloppily laced and barely hugged her waist. Her jumbled blouse revealed a bare breast on one side and half of a light pink bra on the other. One stocking had somehow grown longer than the other. Her crescent wand was bent and the cat plush hanging from its handle was rendered inside-out. In place of the hairclips she usually wore in her bangs, an unprocessed blob of black sludge remained stuck to the top of her head. The legion of hands did their best to correct what they could, before giving up and flailing in unified panic.

"Oh dear. Some of her textures are broken. That won't do. Welch, can you help her out?"

"One step ahead of you. I'm saving what's left of her equipment data and using our source code to fill in the damaged sectors. It should automatically compile based on her personal preferences, assuming she still has a fashion sense."

"So she'll be wearing a composite of her own clothes and a live Executioner mesh? Well, at least it sounds comfortable."

The slime-fabric combination began to glow again. More sparkles covered Sophia's body, and then her new attire appeared.

"That should do it," Welch said in relief. "Philosopher dot EXE is online."

It shared the same basic look as Sophia's original dress, but it was sewn in shimmering black and platinum satin instead of pink and violet. Her stockings had turned black, but a new layer of white pantyhose kept her legs fully covered. Her skirt was divided into front and back panels held together by laces around her hips. The addition of gothic frills on her dress and ornate designs on her sleeves made her look like a curious fusion of a witch and a housemaid. It was a compromise between her natural appearance and her new responsibilities as an Executioner. The extra material in her white hair had taken the shape of an elegant ribbon that subtly resembled a pair of pointed ears. The cat doll on her wand had become her familiar, matching her black color scheme.

A pair of hands reached around Sophia's neck and attached a gold bell to the front of her checker. One hand flicked the trinket with its index finger, causing the small trinket to jingle.

"Looks like the tracking marker works," Blair observed.

Another set of fingers scratched behind Sophia's ribbon. She tilted her head and purred contently. When she noticed a tiny chunk of ooze was still drying on the back of her hand, she raised her arm to her mouth and cleaned it off with a few swipes of her tongue.

"How are you feeling, Sophia?" Blair asked.

"Pretty bored. I really wanna kill something." Sophia looked up at the red eye with a playful grin.

"She's fucked," Welch grumbled. "I hope you're happy you were able to 'save' her or whatever."

"Quiet, Welch. Sophia, would you like to kill anything in particular?"

Sophia's answer came naturally.

"Anomalies."

"Do you know why I had to bring you here?"

"Um… I think you wanted to fix me so I could help you get the Eternal Sphere back to normal. Fayt and his followers are a threat to the real world because they know too much. You and Luther won't have to destroy the Sphere if I take care of things for you guys."

"Very good. It looks like you're all cleaned up."

"Really? I'm still a little confused about this…"

"Don't worry about that, Sophia. You don't have to understand everything. That's why Welch and I are here to tell you exactly what you should do."

"Okay, Miss Lansfeld!" Sophia answered with an obedient nod and a friendly smile.

The angel parted the curtains of her skirt, allowing Sophia to see her first set of targets through her crystal prison. Fayt looked bewildered. Maria and Peppita were covering their eyes in shame. Albel was drooling slightly. The others were mortified.

Sophia anxiously clutched her wand. Her imagination ran rampant with visions of death and violence. When the chamber door finally opened to let her free, she sprinted straight into a game of cat and mouse.

Fayt's party was never heard from again.


	6. The Visitor

_Author's note: Blame Gunlord._

* * *

Doom came in an unexpected form for Naruto. The first thing he saw was a dragon unlike any he had ever seen, covered in obsidian scales and angry red veins. The more surprising sight, however, was the beast's rider. She was a beautiful young woman no older than 17 or 18, wearing a short black dress. She was reclining on the creature's head, legs crossed and one hand calmly massaging her pet's ear. Dark satin draped over her features while a white bodice hugged her like a second skin. A small golden bell jingled quietly on her neck every time she tilted her head. The black ribbon in her hair created the illusion of cat ears, but her long silver hair made her appear even more inhuman. A strange combination of frills and curves, she vaguely resembled a French maid.

In other words, she didn't look like anything that belonged in Konohagakure.

Her eyes flickered as she glanced intently toward Naruto, changing to reptilian yellow and revealing the girl's mixed lineage. For a brief moment, two sets of dragon eyes gazed into his soul.

The girl waved to her side, causing a transparent square to appear in the air beside her. Some sort of arcane script appeared in the square, moving time she flexed her fingers. It was like she was reading through a spell book that didn't physically exist.

"Let's see," the girl muttered aloud as she scrolled through her box. "Ah, Ninja World. Looks like you guys have some pretty bad balance issues. Flagged for clean-up 3 days ago." She turned ominously toward Naruto. "And you must be that fox guy I picked up in my system scan. You're kind of small for a high-risk anomaly." She stopped to scratch her head.

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting this 'official' stuff. Uh… your ceaseless quest for power is an insult to the Great Creator. Now you must be punished for your blasphemy. You cannot be saved, yadda yadda yadda." She conjured a half-hearted fireball and tossed it his way.

Naruto couldn't begin to comprehend what the girl was saying, but he knew it sounded threatening. He slowly stepped back and prepared for the fight of his life. He was interrupted by someone playfully tapping him on the shoulder.

The girl was now standing inches beside him. In a double-take, he frantically glanced back and forth between the giggling girl and her silent dragon companion, trying to deduce how she could move so quickly when she had just been in front of his eyes. In frustration, he focused on the closer opponent and made his first—and only—attack.

He stopped when something stabbed him in the back. In shock, he looked down to see the tip of a metallic spear had impaled him through his back and exited through his collarbone. He watched the spearhead transform into the girl's hand while it was still stuck in his chest, adding to his horror. She had moved around him in another act of impossible speed and used demon-magic to turn her own arm into a weapon. He tried to speak in his dying breaths.

"I don't... believe it..."

He believed it when the dragon lurched forward and bit down on his head, ending his life's struggle with a sickening _crack_. The girl casually removed her fist from the hole in his windpipe, then whispered the incantation for a fire spell that cremated his corpse. Naruto Uzumaki was erased forever.

By this point, the other ninja in the village had noticed the arrival of the dragon and the strange girl, and they began an assault of their own. Kakashi attempted to flank the girl, but he was swallowed by a volcanic rift in the ground the moment she snapped her fingers. Kiba fell over dead for no particular reason when she pointed at him. The girl winked at Sakura, causing every cell in her body to dry out and disintegrate into dust. Rock Lee charged the dragon, but three more beasts spawned out of thin air and burned him alive in a wall of hellfire. Hinata tried to jump on one of the dragons, but she was blown into the sky and smashed back against the ground when the girl conjured a tornado.

Sasuke slowly lost his sanity as he watched the carnage unfold. His palms clenched his temples as he stared vacantly into space.

"What the fuck is happening?!" A single enormous bolt of lightning answered his question, reducing him to a smoldering crater.

The others didn't live long enough to be mentioned.

When the fighting stopped, all that remained were the girl, her flying minions, and death. But she still wasn't finished. She reached forward, causing a crescent-shaped staff with a small cat trinket to appear in her hand. The dragons circled through the air like vultures as she raised her staff and performed a short incantation dance. With a little twirl on her toes and a sly shake of her hips, she doomed the entire planet. Her spell conjured an apocalyptic ice storm that started in Konohagakure and spread outward until it consumed everything in the Ninja World. She decided annihilating the world with a global flash-freeze would be a nice change from the usual planet-wide meteor storm. The Creator would praise her all the same as long as she got the job done.

After the spell had run its course and rendered the world uninhabitable, the girl conjured her floating box again. She moved her hand through the spell book until she stopped on a specific phrase: _Redeemer dot EXE. _An angel descended from from the storm clouds and landed in front of the girl.

"I'm finished, Ms. Lansfeld." The girl spoke to her celestial master. "These guys will be cooling off for a while."

"It's just me this time, Sophie. _Hic._" The angel spoke in a bored female voice. "Blair's busy in one of her board meetings. She's probably discussing the ethics of converting your spleen into a nuclear defense system or something. Er… good job, I guess? _Hic._ Damn, where's that cooler? I can't put up with this 'system purging' shit unless I'm hammered."

The front of the angel split open to reveal its spacious mechanical interior.

"Come on in. I'll run a diagnostic while I'm transporting you. I'll feel better once I know you're doing okay. Not that they haven't completely screwed you up as it is. _Hic._"

The girl stepped inside. The angel closed around her and disappeared, leaving only a flurry of feathers and snow.


End file.
